Vegan Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread Cake
This very festive recipe is adapted from Jeanne Lemlin's Vegetarian Classics (which I'm pretty sure I scored off the free book shelf when I worked at HarperCollins circa 2002). The pear/caramel topping is a wonderful and (relatively) unexpected way to serve gingerbread. I'm posting it now to go with my Vegan Thanksgiving 2022 video on the No Bones at All playlist!
The topping:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted vegan butter
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
2 ripe but firm pears (Lemlin prefers Bosc or Anjou but Bartlett is fine too)
The cake:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 vegan egg replacer (over the years I have tried Ener-G, Vegan Egg, and Bob's; all are fine, but in my experience Bob's results in the fluffiest cake)
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1/2 cup plant milk soured with one tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice
4 tablespoons melted vegan butter
Preheat the oven to 350º. Grease the sides of a 9-inch round cake pan. To prepare the topping, melt the butter in a small saucepan, adding the brown sugar and stirring until blended. Scrape into the cake pan and spread evenly.
Peel, core, and quarter the pears and cut each quarter into thinner slices, arranging evenly around the pan.
Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix the vegan egg replacer (prepared according to package instructions), brown sugar, molasses, soured plant milk, and melted butter. Scrape into the flour mixture and mix until well blended.
Pour the batter over the pears. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Non-dairy whipped cream optional!
Although this cake is best served the day it is made, Lemlin writes, it will still be delicious if made one day in advance, covered, and kept at room temperature. (I can vouch that it's almost as good even a few days later!)